{"id":24583,"date":"2023-10-31T09:15:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T16:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=24583"},"modified":"2023-10-31T14:12:03","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T21:12:03","slug":"bear-grease-touching-funny-inspiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2023\/10\/31\/bear-grease-touching-funny-inspiring\/","title":{"rendered":"Bear Grease<\/em> touching, funny, inspiring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine for a moment that in 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, settlers left well enough alone and went back to their home. This vision is exactly the time-travelling portal you are invited to journey into with Bear Grease<\/em>, an Indigenous re-telling of the 1978 musical classic Grease<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Created for the Edmonton Fringe by Crystle Lightning and her husband MC RedCloud, the show features an all-Indigenous cast, with 10 actors singing and dancing in the doo-wop style of the ’50s replete with incredibly clever Indigenous references and style. The costumes include ribbon poodle skirts paired with ’50s motorcycle jackets that set the Indigenous scene of this imagined era.<\/p>\n

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Bear Grease<\/em> was a success when performed at UVic recently (photo provided).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, Bear Grease<\/em> is so much more than just an Indigenized version of Grease<\/em>; the audience will both recognize the original musical through the characters and songs and experience a fresh and creative take on the piece. Hip hop, Indigenous drums, and flute are a few of the added elements that make this piece especially spectacular.<\/p>\n

The tone is set for this musical right from the start, with an awe-inspiring dance mash-up of classic ’50s jive with traditional powwow dancing.<\/p>\n

The entire cast is truly stellar, however, Tammy Rae Lamouche\u2019s performance as Rizzo was a standout, as she serenaded us with a heartwarming rendition of \u201cStand By Me\u201d in her native Cree language. From my seat, in the upper right balcony, I could see how impactful this song was to the majority Indigenous audience in the house. Experiencing this was one of those live theatre moments that gave me the chills.<\/p>\n

For the final number, Lightening and Cloud chose to replace the classic \u201cYou\u2019re the One that I Want\u201d with \u201cMeet me at the Pow Wow,\u201d a fun and lighthearted way to wrap up this joyous romp into an all-Indigenous 1950s era.<\/p>\n

At the end of the show, Lightning shared a heartwarming story of the inception of Bear Grease<\/em>, where she and her partner jokingly changed the words of \u201cSummer Nights’\u201d to \u201cSummer Snagging,\u201d a tongue-in-cheek Indigenous reference to sexuality, and the rest just flowed from there.<\/p>\n

Bear Grease<\/em> is created for uplifting community, celebrating Indigenous creativity, and having a lot of laughs along the way. Unfortunately, the performance was a one-night-only affair, but if you get the chance, I highly recommend checking out this dazzling, fun-loving musical. I can’t wait to see what they dream up next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine for a moment that in 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, settlers left well enough alone and went back to their home. This vision is exactly the time-travelling portal you are invited to journey into with Bear Grease, an Indigenous re-telling of the 1978 musical classic Grease. Created for the Edmonton Fringe by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t